


Pharaoh In Gold

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Pridecember 2018 [17]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Artists, Dreams, Loneliness, M/M, Magic, Painting, Past Lives, Prophetic Dreams, Psychic Abilities, artist Kaiba Seto, lonely Kaiba Seto, ygopridecember2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-22 03:16:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17052041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Seto Kaiba isn't lonelyHe has his art, he has his cat, he isn't lonelyAtleast... that's what he tells himself





	Pharaoh In Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Day 17 of Pridecember 2018- "Masterpeice"

Seto Kaiba is not lonely

He isn't a people person, it isn't who he is, he doesn't care to be social and he's just fine on his own

His brother talks to him every day, even if it is from a college over an hour away from him

He has his art, he has his cat, he isn't lonely

\--

Sometimes he paints things that he doesn't really understand

He never questions his inspiration, he never thinks twice about what's telling him to paint something, or why he feels obligated to follow through, he just follows it and those are always the peices that sell best

He doesn't mind it, he doesn't need to understand art for it to be beautifull

As a matter of fact, he would argue that it's not understanding art that's what makes it art to begin with

What's beautifull about something that can be totally understood and dissected?

\--

He wakes up one night past three in the morning in a cold sweat, his heart is pounding, and his hands are trembling

He slides out of bed and goes downstairs, unpacks a new canvas and some paint

By the time the sun is casting light down into his work room, he's painted a pond full of koi fish, better than anything he's ever done before

Two days later, it sells for fifty million yen

\--

Seto Kaiba isn't lonely

He has a very fullfilled life

He spends his days relaxed, does his art at his own pace, on his own schedule

He has a personal driver for events, though he likes to drive himself for small things like client meetings

He does most of his shopping online and streams movies online or orders them on demand

He doesn't eat out, usually ordering food to be picked up or on rare occasion cooking for himself

He cooks Persephone- his cat- every meal personally

She's a good companion, she's all he needs

\--

On a Tuesday night he dreams of German Shepherds and can't stop painting them for three days, it's nearly manic

On the morning of the fourth day he takes Persephone for a walk, something she doesn't usually request, and finds out his neighbor is giving away German Shepherd puppies, in desperate need to find homes for them before she moves to England for work

To this day, he doesn't know what possesses him, but he ends up with the last one

\--

He names the dog Anastasia, after the girl who bought his five hundredth painting

He thought it appropriate, Anastasia means "Resurrection", wich fits well with Persephone's name

\--

Seto Kaiba is definitely not lonely

He has a new puppy and anyone who has ever had a new puppy knows that it's impossible to be lonely when there's a baby dog running around your house, ruining your home

He's not lonely, no matter how much it aches sometimes to be caring for her alone

\--

Late September, he wakes up gasping for air, practically runs down the stairs, and trembles as he tore the papper off of a new canvas

His paintbrush strikes against the cloth as he shakes, and there's an undeniable _ache_ in his chest as golds splash across the page

It's not unusual for him to cry wile he paints, most specifically when he wakes from one of these dreams, but it is rather frustrating

Usually it's the art he makes in agony that sells best of all, but that doesn't mean he enjoys it

By the first rays of morning light, he's panting, feels sick to his stomach, but feels oddly... relieved, as he stares at the canvas

It's a tomb

It's an ancient Egyptian tomb

Seto has never had any affinity for Egypt, he's never found it interesting, never cared about the history, and the thought of mummification is uninteresting at best, flat out disturbing at worst

He doesn't understand

He can't wait to get rid of this one

\--

He keeps one of the paintings of the dogs- the one most resembling Anastasia- and puts it next to the one he did of Persephone when he adopted her two years ago

The same year his brother left for college

The year he started filling his home with artwork

He doesn't put either of them in the same room that his brother's portrait is in

\--

Seto Kaiba isn't lonely

Persephone runs out of litter and he goes to the store to get some instead of paying for overnight shipping, even though he could afford it

It's rediculous to give the post office that much money, that's what he tells himself

\--

In October he starts having dreams more and more of a ... strange, strange thing

A strange figure

A silhouette

Short, possibly male, with strangely large, spikey hair

He paints the figure in black and gold, in purple and red, in shadows and bronze

He exhausts himself painting this imaginary person and doesn't know why

He hasn't sold any of them yet

He hasn't sold the painting he did of the tomb either

\--

He's having trouble sleeping

He's having dreams he can't remember

He has more muse than ever but never for the things that he actually _needs_ to paint

He works and works and works

He never feels satisfied

\--

Seto Kaiba isn't lonely

He starts taking Anastasia for walks in the local park because she's a big dog who doesn't need to be cooped up in the house all day, and she's getting older and has more and more energy that she needs to expend, he doesn't want his house ruined

He decides to start going to the art store instead of ordering supplies online, just to see what's available, to get a feel for the materials first hand, an experience that he won't get from ordering things online

He's starting to learn that he can't do _everything_ online after all

That's what he tells himself

\--

By November he's starting to paint details of the mysterious stranger

A body

Skin tone

Clothes

Hair

But the face is still obscured by shadows and no matter how much he paints, he can't manage to get anything more

\--

He tosses and turns in bed

He can't sleep

He never can these days

He starts aching to hear from clients, not for monetary purposes or even because he's interested to paint what they're requesting

In fact, more times than not, he can't muster up the inspiration for their requests, no matter how hard he tries, and the pictures always come with an odd lifelessness that no one notices but him

He dozes every now and then, and he dreams of the nameless, faceless pharaoh in his paintings

\--

Seto Kaiba isn't lonely

That's what he tells himself

\--

December comes, and with it, he sees more and more of The Pharaoh's face

It starts with his mouth, his lips are small and soft

His nose is cute and a little bit narrow and round

He has his ears peirced in three places

His bangs are as strange as the rest of his hair, they look unnatural, almost like lightening bolts

The eyes are the last to come and they're naturally the most beautifull

No matter how hard he tries, he can't get that shade of red just right

He still hasn't sold any of them yet

\--

By mid-December, it's no longer the dreams or the visions or the muse keeping him awake, it's just the depression, the listlessness, the _loneliness_

He's lonely

He realizes it now as the holiday season is here, and he's alone, with his pets and his paintings, and no one to talk to

He's alone and he's lonely

And he's greatfull for the paintings because they give him a reason to get up in the mornings

\--

On Christmas Eve, he completes his masterpeice

There's a life to the painting that he can't describe, he can't possibly put it into words

The colors are perfect, from his skin to his hair to his eyes- his eyes, he _finally_ nailed his perfectly coiffed hair and those gorgeous gemstone eyes

He's smiling, in the painting, for the first time

It's a warm, knowing smile, as if he's just been told a secret

He's surrounded by treasures, on his throne, and decorated from jewls and golds and priceless natural gems, stones, and metals

He's beautifull

He's too beautifull to sell

Seto is going to keep him, but he needs a name

The name escapes him, he can't think of one, so he finally decides to call it "Pharaoh In Gold" and leave it at that

He stares at the painting, feels his heart hurt, and squeezes his eyes breifly shut

He's lonely, and he's sad, and he wishes that the beautifull creature in the painting could be real, could be alive, could be his

He wishes he weren't alone

\--

Around five o'clock in the morning, Seto jerks awake again

But this time it isn't due to a dream, or the need to paint, or the dog needing to go outside

He hears a noise downstairs

Bracing himself, he slides out of bed and slowly starts to creep along the floor of the bedroom, drawing a baseball bat from beneath his bed and tip-toeing out of the room and down the hall

There's a light on downstairs, it's the living room light, he _knows_ that he didn't turn it on

His hands tighten on the bat, his heart-rate increasing, and he nearly trembles as he rounds the corner, seeing a shadow projected on the floor

As he raises the bat, however, he finally gets a glimpse of the person who had invaded his home

It's.......

"... Pharaoh...?"

The man turns around, a warm and confident smile on his face as he holds his hand out

"Hello, Seto,"

He drops the bat, spins and stares at the canvas behind him

The latest painting of the pharaoh from last night

His masterpeice

Now it only depicted an empty throne

He swallowed tightly, his breathing speeding up, his eyes wide and uncertain

The pharaoh steps closer, hand still extended, and tilts his head

"Do you not remember me, Seto?"

"How do you know my name?"

"You and I were together before, many times before, in many different lifetimes, how could I forget you? You certainly didn't forget me,"

All of a sudden, entirely unprompted, the word, the name, slammed into him like a freight train

"..... Atem....?"

His smile widened, less cocky, more comforting, as he took Seto's hand and pulled him closer, his free hand resting against the artist's pale face as he leaned in closer, pressing their lips together

"Hello, Seto,"

\--

Seto Kaiba isn't lonely

He has a dog, and a cat, and a career that he loves

And a masterpeice of a person sleeping beside him every night


End file.
